young

English Online Dictionary. What means young‎? What does young mean?

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English yong, yonge, from Old English ġeong, from Proto-West Germanic *jung, from Proto-Germanic *jungaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuHn̥ḱós, from *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: yŭng, IPA^(key): /jʌŋ/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /jʊŋɡ/
• Rhymes: -ʌŋ

Adjective

young (comparative younger, superlative youngest)

1. In the early part of growth or life; born not long ago.
2. At an early stage of existence or development; having recently come into existence.
3. (Not) advanced in age; (far towards or) at a specified stage of existence or age.
   • 1906, Robertson Nicoll, Tis Forty Years Since, quoted in T. P.'s Weekly, volume 8, page 462:

     And thou, our Mother, twice two centuries young,

     Bend with bright shafts of truth thy bow fresh-strung.

4. Junior (of two related people with the same name).
5. Early. (of a decade of life)
   • 1922, E. Barrington, “The Mystery of Stella” in “The Ladies!” A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, pp. 40-41,^[4]

     […] Miss Hessy is as pretty a girl as eye can see, in her young twenties and a bit of a fortune to boot.
6. Youthful; having the look or qualities of a young person.

7. Of or belonging to the early part of life.

8. (obsolete) Having little experience; inexperienced; unpracticed; ignorant; weak.

Synonyms

• (born not long ago): youthful, junior; see also Thesaurus:young
• (having qualities of a young person): youthful, juvenile
• (of or belonging to the early part of life): juvenile
• (inexperienced): underdeveloped, undeveloped, immature

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “born not long ago”): old, aged, grown up, senior, youthless, elderly
• (antonym(s) of “having qualities of a young person”): aged, old, youthless, mature, elderly
• (antonym(s) of “of or belonging to the early part of life”): senior, mature, elderly
• (antonym(s) of “inexperienced”): mature, experienced, veteran

Derived terms

Related terms

• youth

Translations

Noun

young (plural young)

1. (often as if a plural noun) Offspring, especially the immature offspring of animals.

Derived terms

• youth is wasted on the young

Translations

Verb

young (third-person singular simple present youngs, present participle younging, simple past and past participle younged)

1. (informal or demography) To become or seem to become younger.
2. (informal or demography) To cause to appear younger.
3. (geology) To exhibit younging.

Anagrams

• Guyon

Middle English

Adjective

young

1. Alternative form of yong